Yours Truly

14. Streetlights and Slushies

Sera's phone kept ringing while she was with Rowan in his car, on their way to get slushies. She ignored it every single time, sometimes even declining it. Her relationship with her family was strained, with little to no contact in the past two years. She could tell that Rowan's eyes were on her, noticing how she ignored her phone and shifted uncomfortably each time, but he didn't ask.

It hurt her a little to avoid his eyes and pretend like nothing was wrong, and it hurt her even more to remember that she had to go home after this and continue pretending. She averted her gaze to the window, gulped nervously, and couldn't help her mind from wandering to a time when she and her family were okay. When she was still young and oblivious, when they were close and no one had gotten between them yet, to a time when they would believe her over anyone else.

Sera felt tears sting the back of her eyes and shook her head. She was not going to cry over this pain yet again, and definitely not right now. She was going to enjoy her time with Rowan now and dread going home later. Elena usually went to bed early anyway, maybe she'd be fast asleep by the time Sera made it home. She hoped.

"Are you okay?" Seemed like Rowan finally made up his mind to ask.

"Yeah." A big smile was plastered on her face all of a sudden, though she felt her chest getting heavier.

"I remembered when my friends used to add vodka to their slushies." She giggled, looking at his side profile.

Rowan simply raised an eyebrow at her, unimpressed.

"It was stupid but really fun." She looked down at her skirt.

"Did you ever get caught?" He asked.

"Oh, I don't drink." A breathy laugh left her lips, she didn't know what was funny. "I used to add Red Bull instead, tasted pretty good."

Rowan looked at her unbelievably.

"Wanna try?" She suggested, "You could do vodka if you want, doesn't matter, I'll do Red Bull."

"I'll do Red Bull."

After a few minutes, Rowan paid for both of their slushies while Sera went to grab two cans of Red Bull. She was about to pay for them when Rowan stopped her, not even sparing her a glance as he paid. Sera asked him if they could just walk, and Rowan simply nodded.

"You're a man of very few words." She said as she opened one of the cans.

Rowan was silent for a while before answering with a simple 'Yeah'. Sera looked at him, a smile in her eyes.

"Here you go." She gave him the cup of Rasberry slushy that had Red Bull poured into it and waited for him to take a sip, gauging his reaction.

"It tastes the same." Rowan said.

"No, it doesn't!" Sera laughed, she did the same to her cup and started drinking as they walked.

There was a little moment of silence as they walked side by side under the street lights, none of them breaking it. It was so unlike her that Rowan felt like he needed to ask.

"It's unlike you not to fill the silence." He said.

"Do you want me to?"

"If you feel like it, I'm just asking if you're okay."

"I am okay." That was a lie.

"Good." He didn't believe it.

"Rate your day?" She suggested, looking at him.

Rowan thought it over before saying "Eight."

"That's a really good day." She was getting tired by now, and she didn't know if it was from walking or smiling too much.